The Myth Makers (TV story)
The Myth Makers 'is the third serial of the third season of ''Doctor Who. It was written by Donald Cotton, directed by Michael Leeston-Smith and featured William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Maureen O'Brien as Vicki Pallister and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor. Overview To be added Synopsis The TARDIS lands on the plain of Asia Minor, not far from the besieged city of Troy. On leaving the ship, the Doctor is mistaken for the mighty God Zeus and escorted to the Greek army encampment. Meanwhile, Vicki and Steven are captured by the Trojans, Steven is held prisoner as a spy and Vicki is believed to have supernatural powers and is given two days to banish the Greeks and stop the war. When the Doctor recalls the Trojan Horse myth, the trio find themselves and their destinies inadvertently linked to history. However, not all of the TARDIS crew is destined to be leaving Troy... Plot Temple of Secrets (1) Outside the city of Troy, two Trojan warriors, Achilles and Hector, address each other with hostility before engaging in a viscous brawl. They are so entrenched in their battle, they fail to notice the TARDIS materialise behind them. Inside the ship, the Doctor, Steven and Vicki watch the fight on the scanner, wondering what the combat is over. The Doctor insists on going out to ask where the are, but Vicki is unsure the idea is wise. Steven volunteers to go but the Doctor refuses and goes to address them. While Achilles and Hector and busy sniping at each other over their opposing beliefs, with Hector publicly challenging Zeus, the Doctor emerges from the TARDIS and distracts Hector long enough for Achilles to kill him. The Doctor is quick to condemn him for this act of brutality when Achilles mistakes him for Zeus. The Doctor attempts to return to the TARDIS, but Achilles blocks his way, imploring him to return to the Agamemnon's camp. Vicki and Steven watch the Doctor being escorted on the scanner and go to get changed to follow. Outside, Odysseus arrives and scorns Achilles' claim that he had killed Hector and laughs further at his insistence that the Doctor is Zeus. He examines the TARDIS, just as Steven goes outside to help. The Doctor and Achilles refuse to allow Odysseus access to the TARDIS and he starts to believe him a spy. They take Hector's body back to the city as a Trojan hoard emerges from hiding after they leave. Steven insists on going after the Doctor and all but orders Vicki to stay put. She sees the Trojan soldiers on the scanner. In the Grecian camp, Agamemnon argues with his brother Menelaus over the prospect of his wife being the cause of the current war. He suggests that if he had taken control of his wife or fought Paris previously, there wouldn't be a predicament. Achilles charges into the tent and declares his victory of Hector; he also proclaims that Zeus appeared before him during the fight. Agamemnon is furious with Odysseus' actions over the Doctor's treatment and orders him brought before him. A Trojan slowly crawls before the TARDIS and places a plaque there. The Doctor is brought before Agamemnon, wherein he tries to retain his status with him with knowledge of his wife's infidelity, but Odysseus openly mocks this and him. Unable to decide on the Doctor's status as a potential god or spy, Agamemnon places him under arrest until a decision can be made. Meanwhile, Steven swiftly heads over the Grecian camp when he spots a Greek patrol coming and he hides; after the patrols move away, Steven heads off again to look for the Doctor. Later, Odysseus eavesdrops on Agamemnon from outside when a one-eyed man known as Cyclops, already in Odysseus' employ, approaches him and informs him that he spotted Steven leave the TARDIS and head toward the camp. Odysseus sends Cyclops back to the 'temple' before seeing Steven approach himself. Odysseus catches him and accuses him, by the point of a sword, of being a spy before Agamemnon. To save Steven, the Doctor orders him brought to his temple at morning for 'sacrifice' when Cyclops interrupts the meeting and announces, through Odysseus on account of an inability to speak, that his TARDIS has disappeared. Small Prophet, Quick Return (2) Searching the plains for the TARDIS, a trail of footprints lead to Troy. Unable to maintain the pretence, the Doctor admits to not being Zeus, but Agamemnon just orders Odysseus to do with them what he sees fit. Odysseus ties them up and gives them one last opportunity to explain themselves. In Troy, a crowd has gathered around the TARDIS, while Paris tries to explain to his father, Priam, why he took it from the Greeks. Vicki watches all the onlookers from inside, when Paris suggests they place it inside the Trojan temple, a suggestion which Cassandra is immediately abhorred by. Priam and Cassandra start to suspect that the TARDIS was placed there by the Greeks deliberately containing soldiers to destroy Troy from within. Priam attempts to pry the TARDIS opens with a sword but Cassandra suggests that they burn it as an offering to the gods. Overhearing this, Vicki rushes to the wardrobe to find some suitable attire. The Doctor and Steven explain the truth of their travels to Odysseus and he, while initially infuriated, concedes their story as too elaborate to be a lie. He explains that he'll let them go on the condition that the Doctor and Steven devise a way for the Greeks to conquer Troy. Meanwhile, the TARDIS is prepped as a gift for the gods. As Cassandra publicly makes an appeal to the gods, Vicki steps out of the ship in front of everybody and claims to be someone from the future. Cassandra is skeptical of her claims and accuses her of being a spy for Agamemnon. Paris doesn't believe Vicki as a spy; Priam questions her and seems fond of her, choosing to rename her Cressida, as Vicki isn't considered a Trojan name. Paris is ordered back to the war by Priam and Vicki thanks him for trying to help her. Cassandra tries to convince Priam that Vicki's arrival is an omen for catastrophe, but he just ignores her. Back in the Grecian camp, the Doctor rejects the Trojan Horse idea as a historical myth while he and Steven try and conceive and idea for Odysseus, whom the Doctor requests that should the siege of Troy go ahead, Vicki be spared. Steven insists on going to Troy to find her, dressed up as a prisoner of war; Odysseus heartily agrees to it while putting the Doctor back to work. Outside the city, Steven approaches Paris and challenges him to battle, introducing himself as Diomedes. Paris casually engages him in a battle in which Steven deliberately loses the combat and surrenders to him; appealing to his vanity, Paris concedes to take him prisoner over killing him and takes him back to Troy, when Cyclops comes out of hiding and follows them. Meanwhile, after being fed, Vicki and Priam discuss their positions further when Priam mentions the Trojans' having great religious significance to their society. Before Vicki accidentally lets slip details about the Trojan Horse, Paris arrives with Steven as prisoner. While Priam is angered by the invasion of his privacy, Steven and Vicki spontaneously say each other's names. Cassandra, who had been eavesdropping from the background, considers this as confirmation that Vicki is a spy for the Greeks and orders both Vicki and Steven put to death, Death of a Spy (3) As the guards advance on Vicki and Steven, Paris steps in and stops the guards from harming them, declaring Steven to be Diomedes, arguing with Cassandra for trying to make military decisions from the position of a 'fortune teller of notorious unreliability', a comment that makes her furious. Steven plays along with Paris' claims to better aid their chances of survival. Priam silences the pair of them and tells Vicki that she will be given one day to figure out a way to win the conflict with Greece or die, while he orders both she and Steven to be incarcerated in the dungeons. Meanwhile, the Doctor is approached by Odysseus, who asks him after his progress. He tries to propose the use of a fleet of flying machines launched by catapults. Odysseus is won over by the idea but then proclaims that the Doctor will be the one to fly it. In the Trojan dungeons, Vicki and Steven bicker about their shared predicament and Steven informs her that the Doctor is currently working on a way to besiege Troy while she has to think of a way to save it. Steven sees Cyclops approaching his cell and tells him to gives him the message that the Greeks mustn't attack Troy until the day after tomorrow, when Troilus enters Vicki's cell unheard by her; thankfully, he doesn't hear Cyclops' instructions. He leaves some food for Vicki and they speak somewhat flirtatiously. In Odysseus' tent, the Doctor tries to devise a way of getting out of being the pilot of the flying machine. To save himself from being launched into Troy by himself for failure, the Doctor proposes the idea of the Trojan Horse and Odysseus loves the idea. The plan is pitched the Agamemnon when Odysseus declares that the Doctor will come with them in the horse, much to his chagrin, and they plan their attack. After Vicki and Troilus finish eating, he leaves and Steven openly teases Vicki about their interactions. They ponder of whether or not Cyclops was capable of getting the message back to the Doctor; outside the city, he is found by Trojan guards and, unable to speak and explain himself, is killed. The Trojan Horse is completed and Odysseus still insists on bringing the reluctant Doctor to the siege. In the cells, Steven attempts to knock out the guard and escape, but more come and he remains trapped. Inside the horse, the Doctor watches across the desert and tries to bluff his way out of the horse, but fails. Odysseus takes his place looking out and watches the Trojans finding the horse on the plains. The following morning, Troilus wakes Vicki to tell her that the Greeks have fled and that she's free to leave, but leaves Steven locked up. The Trojan soldiers start dragging the horse towards the city. Vicki and Troilus come before Priam when Cassandra appears, still trying to insist that the Greek's vanishing is a poor omen. Paris enters to confirm that the Greeks have really gone and that they've apparently found the Great Horse of Aisa. Looking out over the plains, they spot the Horse sitting on the sand and Vicki recognises it as the Trojan Horse. Cassandra takes this as Vicki knowing of Troy's upcoming fall but everybody ignores her. Outside, the giant horse is brought inside the city with the Greeks inside ready to lay waste to it at nightfall. Horse of Destruction (4) Cassandra is more convinced than ever that disaster is going to come to Troy and furiously continues to rant at Priam, Paris and Troilus about her suspicions, but they don't listen to her. Off to the side, Cassandra orders her handmaiden Katarina to look for Vicki and watch her. Vicki returns to the dungeons and releases Steven, telling him that the Horse is being brought into the city. Inside the Horse, Odysseus complains about the roughness of the journey to the Doctor when the Horse completes it's transit. Priam and Paris go to examine the horse, along with the amazed citizens of the city; Vicki and Steven sneak through the peoples and admire the horse for a moment before hiding from soldiers. They hide again and watch Katarina wandering around for them from afar. Steven sends Vicki to tail Katarina and, noting her budding affection for Troilus, tells her to warn him to get out of the city before the attack. Elsewhere, Paris and Troilus discover Steven missing and Vicki arrives, Cassandra still convinced that she's a sorceress and spy. Priam permits Cassandra to have Katarina keep an eye on Vicki. Odysseus ruthlessly confides in the Doctor that he rather hopes that either Agamemnon or Achilles would die in the siege, making more of the profits fall to him when the city is sacked. They argue about the Doctor's desire to leave and Odysseus threatens to kill him should he try to escape. Elsewhere, Vicki tries desperately to get Troilus by claiming that Steven was seen on the plains and, despite him arguing it, succeeds. At nightfall, the Greeks leave the horse under cover of darkness and head off to open the gates; the Doctor and Odysseus soon follow suit. The Doctor is appalled by the barbarism conducted by the Greeks but Odysseus keeps him close in sight. Out on the plains, Troilus looks for Steven but is confronted by Achilles, whom he had assumed departed. As Troilus ponders on whether Vicki fed him a deception, the pair draw arms and fight. The combat is evenly matched when Troilus manages to mortally wound Achilles; however, with his last ounce of strength, he manages to badly wound Troilus with a spear. Back in the city, the Greeks' plot is discovered by Priam and Cassandra. While Cassandra gloats over her judgement being proved correct, the palace is stormed by Odysseus and his soldiers, who slay Priam and Paris while Cassandra is taken away as a war prisoner. Outside, Vicki and Katarina, who she'd managed to convince to assist her, find the Doctor, who has snuck away from Odysseus in the bloodshed. Katarina goes to get Steven while Vicki ushers the Doctor into the TARDIS to speak with him. Steven is discovered by a Trojan soldier, that he manages to kill but takes a strong wound to his shoulder; Katarina comes and manages to get him away. In the smoke and chaos, Vicki sadly steps from the TARDIS, hugging it affectionately before walking away, the Doctor watching from the doors. Katarina brings Steven to the TARDIS and helps the Doctor get him inside; Odysseus catches the Doctor getting into the TARDIS and tries to stop him, but he hurries inside and dematerialises. Vicki meets with Troilus, who watches Troy be destroyed from afar. She tells him that Steven has gone and, while Troilus is despondent over the loss of his city, tells him that she remained behind to be with him. Troilus spots his cousin approaching from the distance, giving both of them hope and he and Vicki, who now accepts her new identity as 'Cressida', proclaim their love for each other and promise to build a new Troy together. In the TARDIS, Steven suffers badly from his injury and is confused to see Katarina with them. The Doctor tells him that Vicki is safe and well with Troilus, while Katarina wonders if the TARDIS is limbo and that they are all dead. The Doctor convinces her this isn't the case before turning his attention back to Steven's injury; he voices his concern about Steven's wellbeing when he falls unconscious and realises he needs to right medication to help him and realises he must land somewhere and find it quickly. Cast * Dr. Who - William Hartnell * Vicki - Maureen O'Brien * Steven - Peter Purves * Katarina - Adrienne Hill * Achilles - Cavan Kendall * Hector - Alan Haywood * Odysseus - Ivor Salter * Agamemnon - Francis De Wolff * Menelaus - Jack Melford * Cyclops - Tutte Lemkow * Priam - Max Adrian * Paris - Barrie Ingham * Cassandra - Frances White * Messenger - Jon Luxton * Troilus - James Lynn Crew * Writer - Donald Cotton * Director - Michael Leeston-Smith * Producer - John Wiles * Assistant Floor Manager - Dawn Robertson * Costumes - Daphne Dare * Costumes - Tony Pearce * Designer - John Wood * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware * Film Cameraman - Peter Hamilton * Film Editor - Caroline Shields * Incidental Music - Humphrey Searle * Make-Up - Elizabeth Blattner * Make-Up - Sonia Markham * Production Assistant - David Maloney * Production Assistant - Richard Brooks * Script Editor - Donald Tosh * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson * Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton * Studio Sound - Dave Kitchen * Studio Sound - Bryan Forgham * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire * Title Music - Ron Grainer References To be added Story notes To be added Broadcast & Ratings Continuity To be added Home video and audio releases To be added External Links * Official ''The Myth Makers'' page on '''Doctor Who Website